I Love You, I Really Do
by JL Wrighton
Summary: Shayera leaves the League, finds a new a life in a small town. Wally goes after her. I guess this is a little random. Hope you like it.


Please excuse the bizarre lines. My computer had a major wack-out.

Proluge:

Shayera waited until everyone was gone then went to the transporter. This late at night no one was watching them. She typed in her code quickly and quietly, then stepped to the center of the pad. She disappeared in a flash of light, coming back on Earth, several hundred miles from her destination. It was time to go. She looked up to the sky, tears filling her eyes. She could go back. She could fly to Metropolis and go back like nothing had happened. She could live her life like everything was fine, when in truth everything was wrong. For a brief moment she felt a fear pass through her. She would never see him again, never see him whizz by with a grin that was hers. Never see the man that was so much like her, yet so lighthearted. "Dear brother love," she said aloud. "Please forgive me. I can't stay."

Flash was walking around the watchtower, nothing much to do, thinking about getting an iced mocha with a certain pretty redhead… Stop that, he told himself. She's just a friend, and you know that she loves Lantern. It really sucks when two of your best friends are exes. He was thinking about her voice, and how pretty she was when his comlink beeped. He pressed the button. "Yo, Flash, what's up?" Batman's voice sounded in his ear. "No time for jokes, conference room. Now." Flash rolled his eyes. "Grouchy butt." He zipped off, heading for the stairs. He'd get there faster then waiting for that old elevator. "I heard that." Batman muttered in his ear.

He spun into his chair, as everyone else filed in. "What's up?" He asked. Wonder Woman began. "Well in case you haven't heard, John proposed to Maurie., who accepted. Well apparently the stress of her nonexistent love life made Shayera leave her ID and her commlink in her room, and leave. She didn't show up on deck today for shift, her bed wasn't slept in, and the last time any cameras show her being on the Watchtower was around 11:00 last night."

Flash listened to this explanation and then exploded.

"Excuse me? EXCUSE ME?!! What the heck were you thinking?" He demanded. "How long has everyone else known this?"

Superman looked a little bit guilty. "Since 11:30 last night."

Flash rolled his eyes. "Okay, I get that I'm the goofy one of the bunch, but honestly, if someone goes missing I have just as high priority to know as any of you. How did you know she hadn't slept in her bed?"

Batman frowned. "We went and looked inside her room."

Flash threw his hands in the air. "HONESTLY! Anyone can just go walking into her room, can't they? I don't get it. We say we love her, but we're still holding that knife behind our backs. Why is she so wary of us? She knows we don't trust her. She left her ID and her commlink behind because she knew we'd come after her. Maybe she wants to be alone. And you Diana have no right to sneer at her love life, when the last time you went on anything remotely resembling a date was in the 1970's! We are still holding council meetings without telling her. Why? WHY?! Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go help a friend."

Flash slammed the door behind him. Batman followed him. John left, probably to relieve stress in the arms of Maurie and Jack Daniels.

Wonder Woman, Superman, and Jjonzz looked at each other. "Does Flash love her?" Superman asked. Jjonzz smiled a little. "For always, since the very beginning. She is his _muntrek_, or 'light of his life' as we would say."

(Change to Shayera's POV)

She flew on and on, with the wind tearing at her face and bare shoulders. She landed a few miles out of a small town in Nebraska. She dropped the small backpack to the ground, and knelt beside it. Out of it she pulled a lot of different clothes. A short jean jacket, and pair of old tennis, a belt and pants, and a faded black shirt. Underneath the clothes was a scanner and a necklace. She changed into the jeans and shoes. She pulled her hair back into a thick braid, and picked up the scanner.

It was a special kind, with an ability to scan fake tattoos onto you. She positioned it on her left shoulder. It buzzed, and a tattoo of the Flash thunderbolt appeared. A tribute to her only true friend, it would stay for the rest of her life. She clipped on the necklace. It was special too. It made her wings disappear. She's experimented with it a little when she still at the Watchtower, and if she took the necklace off, her wings came back. She put on the shirt and jacket, and flipped a baseball cap on. Shayera stood up, surprised by how light she felt. With 20 pounds of wings off, she felt light enough to fly. She took a match out of her pocket, and lit the backpack on fire. She stamped the flames out. She was ready. She was Cheyenne Hanes, never to hurt by a man again.

(3 years down the road)

"Hello Miss Hanes. How are you?" Cheyenne smiled at little Freddie. "Hi Freddie! I'm doing good. Are you ready for our spelling bee?" Freddie smiled, showing his missing tooth. "I think so!"

It was 3 years ago that Shayera Hol died. Shayera made an account, complete with birth certificate. She also went to the University of Colorado, (according to public records) and had a job teaching second graders at the local elementary school.

There were still things she missed about her old life. The thrills, the flying, and mostly the fighting.

But there were good things about her new life. She made new friends, who liked her and hung out with her on the weekends. She worked after school at a drugstore, selling sodas. The little old Spanish lady down the street, Maria, liked her. Cheyenne did her lawn, helped plant roses, and escorted Maria to church every Sunday. Her little students adored her, and she had a girl's night out with some of the nice ladies around town on Saturday nights. She discovered that she liked cheese stuffed jalapeños and root beer floats. Here, the Justice League was a far off distant place in the sky.

(Flash's POV)

When he couldn't find her, he walked away. Flash had earned some hefty rewards catching villains in Central City. A little twisting here and there, and 3 months later he left the League. He got an old motorbike from a friend, took one Flash ring with him, and left. He slept next to his bike, and ate fast food. He took odd jobs in towns but never stayed in one place for long. He was crisscrossing the America, looking for his girl. He found he liked his motorbike, with its sleek body and engine. It was nice to roar down the highway at 80 mph, fast enough to feel good, but slow enough to enjoy the scenery. He rolled into a small town, in northern Nebraska.

(Shayera's POV)

Shawn came running up to her in recess. "Miss Hanes! There's an awesome looking bike outside!" Cheyenne jumped to her feet. "What do you mean?" Shawn jumped up and down. "There's a bike in the school parking lot!" Cheyenne hurried outside. A man in the thick leather jacket sat on his heels next to his bike. Cheyenne tapped his shoulder. "Excuse me? I'm going to have to ask you to move. You're currently in a VP's parking spot." He turned around and pulled off his helmet. Cheyenne bit back a gasp. It was Wally.

He held out a gloved hand. "Sorry, miss, I'll move. Didn't mean to disturb their recess and all. I'm Wally, what's your name?" She shook his hand, surprised at how calm she was. "I'm Cheyenne."

Wally thought there was something familiar about this slim, young teacher in front of him. "Do I know you from somewhere?" Cheyenne nodded. "I knew you once. You were my best friend." Wally's eyes looked they were about to pop out of his head.

"Shayera?" he whispered.

"Shh! Don't say that name! It's Cheyenne. Meet me at the drugstore around the corner after school."

Wally sat at the counter top, waiting for her. Cheyenne. Shayera. She was her. He'd combed half of the U.S. looking for her, and here she was.

Cheyenne walked into the drugstore, spotted Wally and hurried over to him. "Go along with it." She muttered. She dragged him off his stool, and walked over to Mr. Arben. "Mr. Arben! I have someone I want you to meet! This is Wally. We were high school sweethearts. He showed up in town for a visit!" Mr. Arben's smile was warm. "How nice! I suppose you'd like the day off to catch up with an old friend?" Cheyenne smiled innocently. "Please sir?" Mr. Arben waved them out the door. "Have a good time kiddies!" They strolled up the street, with Wally pushing his bike along the gutter. "Why did you do that?" Cheyenne smiled. "Word travels fast. By the end of the day everyone will know about you. If I'd sent you straight to my house it would have reflected badly on my reputation, possibly endangered my job." Wally nodded.

Those 6 hours with Cheyenne was the most wonderful thing that had happened to Wally in the longest time. They laughed and talked. He found that she liked her new life. It seemed like a nice place, this small town. She looked a lot better, more at peace with herself.

By the end of the day, word had spread like wildfire. The quiet Cheyenne had a "man visitor", and according to the gossipy ladies across the street from her, "He wasn't half bad looking, with the honest look of a right-raised son." They had gone to the diner for dinner, but they didn't seem to see anyone else. In everyone's honest opinion, Cheyenne was a wonderful young lady who deserved to marry.

Wally stayed there for two weeks, catching up with Cheyenne. Surprisingly he found it easy to call her Cheyenne. She seemed so much more herself, more like a girl, with feelings, instead of a stoic, emotionless fighter.

______________________________________________________________________________

They were sitting at her table, correcting math homework together when she asked about John. "So how was the wedding?" she asked. Wally shrugged. "They had a kid pretty soon after the wedding. No one really mentioned it out loud, but he was born 4 months after the wedding. His name's Samuel. They look happy together." Shayera bit her lip, marked one of the problems, and kept going. "How's everyone else?" Wally smiled.

"Jjonzz is still himself, with his wife. He comes up every few days to make sure that everything's cool. Superman is still himself, but him and Lois finally tied the knot. They had a son. Diana and Batman are taking things slow, but at least they finally started something. Ollie and Diane broke up for a long time, because she caught him feeling up Huntress. But she loves him still and their going out again. Supergirl and Hotshot are going pretty serious, but it's too soon to tell if anything will come of that. Question actually broke up a real conspiracy , a huge drug ring spanning 4 continents. Mostly these days we take care of natural disaster relief, cause we can get where most can't."

Shayera listened to the report. "How did everyone react to… to my leaving?" Flash frowned. "It took a couple months, but once everyone figured it out, everyone else forced past it. Your stuff's sitting in storage, as is mine, and Aquaman replaced you on the council. He isn't too bad actually."

They ate dinner at home that night, working together in the kitchen. She chopped up garlic while he broiled some fish. "Cheyenne, you know that you can't hide much longer. They'll find you someday." She shrugged. "I'll cross that bridge when I get there. If I see anything that could resemble a superhuman, I stay out of sight. I don't engage in the local gossip about them, I don't collect newspaper clippings about y'all. I moved on."

Cheyenne woke up the next morning, feeling safe and warm. Usually she woke up cold and just stayed bundled up in her blankets till she had to get in the shower. But she felt good today. She opened her eyes to find herself on her couch, snuggled into Wally's arms. She jumped a bit, but didn't wan to move. He was like her own heater, keeping her warm. He started to stir under her and she jumped away from him, regretting it the instant her feet touched the cold floor. He rubbed his eyes a bit and then stared up at her. "Good morning gorgeous." He teased. Cheyenne smiled. "Hey sleepyhead. How do you feel about waffles?" He grinned and stood up. "Only if I get to make them." Wally stood up and gave her a hug, then quite suddenly kissed her forehead. "Go get ready for work. I'll take care of breakfast."

Wally watched her walk down the street and then turned back to the kitchen. In a little less then 2 minutes he had everything cleaned up. He had decided to go to the local jewelry and get her a ring. More then ever now, he wanted to marry her.

Wally stuck his hands in his pockets, and strolled as casually into the jewelry store as possible. The man that owned the shop, Mr. Keith, was standing by his counter. "Welcome! What can I get you?" he beamed. Wally swallowed nervously. "I'd like an engagement ring." Mr. Keith's smile got bigger. "For Cheyenne?" Wally nodded. "I'm going to ask her to marry me." Mr. Keith's smile nearly split his face in two. "Why that's a fine thing! I know she'll say yes." Flash scratched a small scab on his knuckle. "Well sir, I kind of have a small budget. I can't afford more then a couple hundred dollar kind-of-ring. But I don't think anything here would fit her personality.

Mr. Keith patted his shoulder. "Well, I'm sure I have something for her. You see, I like ot make and sell jewelry that fits people. But Cheyenne? She's a totally new personality. The town never talked about it publicly, but it's fairly common knowledge that she came from somewhere else. Most assumed she was leaving behind a bad past. She showed up one day, bought a house and settled in. she seemed kind of hesitant to share with the woman around town, but being neighborly and all we just took her under wing. Now I was looking through some old merchandise I keep in the back this past week and I think I have something that will fit her."

He gestured for Wally to follow, and went to the back of the store. There, boxes were stuck haphazardly all over the room, with confused paths around them. Mr. Keith headed to the right wall for the shortest stack. He handed one box to Wally and searched through the one beneath it. He pulled out a ring box, and put the other one back on top. He handed the ring box to Wally who opened it.

Inside was a ring, with a diamond in the center and a pearl on each side. The gold was intermixed with black marble, making a pattern of flashing lights and swirls. "I know it looks strange, but somehow it seems to fit her. Hard and soft, dark and light." Wally held it carefully. "How much?" Mr. Keith smiled. "Does $350 sound fair?" Wally looked startled. "But I thought it would cost a lot!"

"Treat our girl well, and the price will never change." Wally filled out the check and shook his hand. "Thank you sir!"

They ordered Thai food from a restaurant that night, and watched old TV shows. Wally was really on edge, unable to sit down for more then a few minutes. Cheyenne watched him for a moment then smacked the back of his head. "Wally! For heavens sake sit down!" He sat down and soon fell asleep, his head on her shoulder, breathing gently.

Cheyenne sat and watched Wally sleep. She ran her fingers through his hair, so much like her own, yet so different. Wally was strong. He always was. She guided his head from her shoulder to her lap and kept brushing his hair, first making it stick up then making it lie flat. Something jangled against her knee and she looked down. His leather jacket had fallen open, and its pocket was against her knee. She reached over him and pulled out everything out of his pocket. He had 43 cents, a cellophane wrapped toothpick and a box. She flipped it open to a wonderful ring, in black velvet. What was it for? Rings like this were usually reserved for marriage…

No that wasn't possible. Wally couldn't be asking her. She sat there in a silence for a minute before putting everything back in his pocket and carefully getting up from underneath him. She pulled his jacket off of him and laid it carefully on the chair next to the couch. She spread blanket out over him, and gently, reached down and kissed his cheek. She headed off to her room, looking back at the sleeping pile on her couch. It seemed so right, to have him in her life.

Wally woke up, and immediately became aware of a wonderful smell coming out of the kitchen. He stumbled off the couch and into the kitchen, and stopped by the wonderful vision in front of him. Cheyenne stood in front of the counter, brow furrowed in concentration. She was wearing an oversized jersey and torn at the knee shorts. Her hair was pulled back into a bun, and there were flour streaks on her cheeks, shirt, and arms. She was carefully shaping brown blobs on a pan. There was a huge bowl of dough and ingredients on another counter. She looked up and smiled when she saw him.

"Oh, I didn't realize you were awake! There's some oatmeal in the fridge if you want to heat that up." Wally gave her a hug and kissed her, then went to the fridge. "What's with the food?" She laughed. "Well tonight's Girl's Night Out for us girls, and seeing as I'm the one hosting it, I wanted to make some food. I wanted to make some, but I didn't realize until too late that I got this out of a wedding cookbook and that it makes enough for two hundred!" Wally chuckled and looked down. "What are they?" She shrugged. I'm not sure, but it's supposed to look like that when it's done." She pointed at the cookbook propped up on the stove. Wally picked it up and sat down at the table. The picture showed a cake with large butterflies on it, in blues, pinks, and yellows. "Uh, sugar cookies?" he guessed. "Yup." She waited until she had a few batches in the oven and he was done eating to get to work on cleaning up. He tapped her shoulder, and bowed. "Allow me, madam." He said in a deep French accent. She giggled, and stepped, back. He spun into the kitchen and cleaned it up and 5 minutes, counting waiting for dishes to dry. He screeched to halt, holding the cookbook again. "You gonna make the frosting too?"

She moved past him into the kitchen. "Yeah, but while I start that can you get the cake mixed up? I had to borrow Maria's big circle pan for it and I want to get that back to her soon." Wally grabbed the cake mix off the counter and got to work, while Cheyenne started on the frosting. They worked until about 11:00 when the cake was frosted, decorated and the kitchen was clean again. Then Cheyenne pulled out avocado, crab, tomatoes, cilantro, and shrimp. "How much food are you making?" Wally asked, surprised.

"Oh, this is the last thing aside from chips. It's no biggy. I like to cook and I always save some money to get the supplies. I actually saved a lot of money living out here. I installed some solar panels, that's the only reason I've left town since I got here. That way I don't have to pay for electricity and the house is already paid off. The water bill is pretty small, and groceries are a lot cheaper here. I don't own a car, or any credit cards. Either of those would require some serious fake ID's which I don't have."

Wally looked up. "If you don't have real ID, how did you get the job at the school? You had to have something." She frowned. "I hacked the University of Colorado's computers, when I still lived in the Watchtower. According to any paper, or computer files, I graduated, 5 years ago. I even photo-shopped a graduation picture. A vacancy came, and I was there."

Cheyenne and Wally made Pico de Gaulle, and sautéed some shrimp. Cheyenne excused herself to the back to shower, leaving Wally to munch on a little of everything.

A few hours later, Cheyenne shooed Wally to the guest room. "This is a Girl's Night Out, not a Girl's Night Out with Wally." He waggled his eyebrows a bit. "Are you sure?" She punched his shoulder. "Dead positive. Now get. I'll bring you back some food later, and there's a TV and some DVD's in there." Wally went inside, but left the door open a crack, so he could hear what they said. A few minutes later, the door rang. Cheyenne threw the door open. "Theresa! I'm so glad you're here! You brought Rachel too!" He heard people walk inside. "So where's this hottie your in love with?" Cheyenne laughed. "He's in the back, and when did I saw I was in love with him?"

"Well it's kind of obvious that you like him."

"Really, is it that obvious?"

"Um, sister, I love you, but honest. You two were meant for each other. And he's not half bad looking either." Wally listened while they gossiped, laughed, ate the night away. He rolled the box around in his pocket for awhile. He would ask her once everyone was gone. She knocked on the door letting it swing open. "Wally, you want to come eat some leftover with me? There's enough for three of us." Wally followed her down the dark hallway. "Shayera?" She turned. "What?" He grabbed the box and handed it to her. "Will you marry me?" She looked from the tiny ring box to him, and back. And then burst into tears. "Really Wally, marry you? I would love to." She slipped the ring onto her finger. "Thank you." She kissed him for a long time. "Now what about those leftovers?" He said. She laughed and led him to the kitchen.


End file.
